Editorial: Congress should extend jobless aid

Associated PressIn this May 3, 2010 photo, job seekers are seen waiting in line at a National Career Fair in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Monday, May 3, 2010.

It’s no vacation to be out of work.

There are bills to pay, food to put on the table – and the stress of wondering how long you can hold on without a job. But for thousands of Americans, unemployment benefits have provided a life raft that has allowed them to keep their heads above water.

That small comfort, however, is due to expire if members of Congress fail to act before Memorial Day recess on a bill that would extend benefits. Without the extension, more than 8 million Americans will run out of unemployment insurance benefits by the end of this year.

House leaders were hoping to vote Thursday on a sweeping jobs bill that would extend the benefits, but they have been running into opposition from Republicans and some Democrats concerned about the cost of the ballooning federal deficit. And the unemployment benefits extension still has to go to the Senate where business tends to be conducted at a snail’s pace.

What about the jobless Americans who are depending on them? Deficit hawks on Capitol Hill should consider the human costs of their inaction. If Congress doesn’t act, thousands of people would begin to lose jobless benefits when an extension of unemployment insurance expires next week. A 65 percent subsidy for health insurance benefits for the unemployed under the COBRA program also expires.

Americans are concerned about the deficit, but they are more concerned about jobs. A Gallup survey from April showed that 21 percent of Americans feared they would lose their jobs or be laid off in the next 12 months.

In addition to extending the unemployment benefits, the bill, known as American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, would provide funds for infrastructure investments, tax cuts for individuals and small businesses, summer jobs and other programs. The payments would be partially offset by the elimination of tax loopholes.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, who support the extension of unemployment benefits, is also working to help older cities create new jobs through the Build America Bonds program, which has been used by state and local governments to make $97 billion in infrastructure investments nationwide. The jobs bill would extend the program for two years.

According to a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, the jobs bill could create and save more than 1 million jobs. The institute says failure to pass it “could have serious consequences for an economy that is just now turning the corner from job loss to job creation.”

With so many Americans in need of work, we don’t understand why the jobs bill has languished so long on Capitol Hill.

At the very least, the members of the House and Senate must pass an emergency measure to extend jobless benefits for Americans who are longing for an end to their forced vacation.